Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime
by Miles Tails Prower The Fox
Summary: AU. Naruto is the son of the Yondaime. Everyone admires and respects him, but he does not find himself worthy of their respect. Yet. Through hard-work, training, and discipline, Naruto will become the shinobi that everyone thinks he should be. Smart/Strong (but not too strong) Naruto. M for language/suggestive themes and situations.
1. Prelude To Graduation

Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

A loud alarm awoke a certain blonde haired boy as he jumped out of bed and shut off his rather obnoxious alarm clock. He took a moment to yawn and stretch before he made his way to the bathroom to shower and get dressed for the academy. His class had just entered the home stretch, as they were barely a week away from graduation. However, Naruto expected for the last week to be the harshest one yet. As such he had been using most of his spare time for studying and preparing for whatever his instructors would throw at him for the graduation test. Though he already figured that the test would be what it always had been for the most part: clone, substitution, and transformation in front of a body of instructors.

They would not only be looking to see if the students could perform the techniques properly, but with how well they could mold their chakra. As such, Naruto had been preparing extensively for the test, and in truth, he always had been. If the Academy didn't require him to attend all four years, he could had most likely graduated earlier.

But from what he understood through the Academy's history lessons, the First Hokage (As well as the Second) and Uchiha Madara made the village in hopes that children of future generations could experience a normal childhood, one without bloodshed. If it wasn't for them, then perhaps Naruto _would _had graduated earlier, only to have been pushed into a battle that he may not had been ready for.

The son of the Yondaime stepped out of the shower and began to dry himself off. Afterwards he brushed his teeth and took a moment to straighten his hair just a touch. He let the bangs on the side of his head hang slightly past his cheeks but no further. He was quite literally the spitting image of his father and he admired everything about him.

He stepped out of his bathroom and got dressed. His outfit consisted of a white hooded jacket with dark shinobi pants and some sandals. When he had inherited the house of his father, he had also found some of his clothes that he wore when he was in the Academy, and Naruto wanted to wear them as well.

Before he stepped out, he completed his morning ritual by clasping his hands together in a prayer-like fashion while staring at a picture of his father smiling next to his pregnant mother.

"Watch over me." He would say before he made his leave.

* * *

The walk to the Academy was always a somewhat interesting experience to say the least. Some villagers would stop and stare at him in awe, and he could also hear some of them whisper about how Naruto was the village's savior, the brave child who kept a deranged beast caged inside of him, the legacy of the greatest shinobi Konoha had ever seen.

He didn't know if he liked it or if he hated it. It was true that he _did _admire his father immensely, however, Naruto was no hero. He was just born and made a container for the Kyuubi, that was it. The majority of his life had been spent in the Academy. Why was he recieving praise that he didn't earn? It somewhat irked him. He was also stuck in his father's shadow, as everyone expected so much out of him. Naruto worked so hard everyday to live up to the villagers's expectations, but no matter how lofty their expectations for him were, it would never exceed his own expectations for himself.

There was also one other thing about his walks that somewhat bothered him to a lesser degree.

"Hinata, I know you're there," Naruto spoke softly.

He didn't even have to turn to face her to know that the Hyuuga heiress tensed up.

By the time he did turn around to regard her, she had already disappeared. The blonde couldn't help but sigh. She had been shadowing him for what must had been months now. It was especially creepy how she would spy on him training, and Naruto was one to train for hours and hours on end after class before he headed home. He didn't know why she was so fascinated with him, but if he had to guess, it would be because that he was the son of the Yondaime. Everyone treated him special, which made Naruto uncomfortable. He never knew if people truly respected him for who he was, or if it was just because that he had happened to had been born the son of Minato.

Naruto made his way to class and sat near the front like he always did. It allowed him to stay attentive. He also knew that more rambuctious kids and troublemakers like Kiba and Chouji, sat near the back, and he didn't want them to distract him.

"Naruto-kun!" He heard a female shriek.

Speaking of distractions...

Ino made her way to him and took a seat on the desk itself. She posed as if she was a model for a magazine and stretched her legs out. Now, Naruto wasn't a pervert, but he _did _admire her body, especially her legs.

Okay, maybe he _was _a bit of a pervert. But he was around the age where he was supposed to notice such things.

"How is my Naruto-kun doing?" She asked seductively with a wink.

Naruto sweat-dropped.

"Ino pig! Stop harassing Naruto! He's the son of the Yondaime he wouldn't want anything to do with you!" A pink-haired girl shouted.

A tick-mark appeared on Ino's head and she turned to Sakura with a murderous look plastered on her visage.

"What did you say forehead girl!? You're just jealous that Sasuke won't give you the time of day! And besides, Naruto is way cooler than him anyways! Isn't that right Naruto-kun?"

Naruto sweat-dropped again.

But, speaking of Sasuke...

Naruto ignored the ramblings of Ino and Sakura (it was all background noise at this point) and his gazed focused on Sasuke who was casually looking out of the window. It was unfortunate what happened to him and his family, as well as his clan. Although he was never one to talk, he did happen to carry with him a somewhat gentle and affable aura about him. But after the massacre, he nearly shut himself off completely. Still, he was a prodigy of sorts, as him and Naruto were battling for the top spot in the class. Sasuke had the slight edge score wise due to the fact that he was a tad more profecient with his shuriken accuracy, but Naruto was right behind him in the number two spot. Naruto planned on practicing his accuracy later on after school was over, but he'd have to go by the weapons shop first and buy more.

"Alright class! Take your seats!" Iruka ordered as all of his students did as they were told. Sometimes Iruka couldn't help but smile to himself at how obedient they could be if they wanted to. Unfortunately, they had moments where he wanted to lash out at every single one of them as a whole.

"Okay class, today I have some good news for some, and bad news for others."

"Give us the bad news first!" Kiba interjected.

"Yea! Save the good news for last!" Chouji chimed in.

Iruka sighed. "No it's not like that. I'm saying that what I'm about to say _could _be good news for some, or it _could _be bad news for others."

The class awaited with baited breath.

"Well, it has been decided that we are going to move your graduation exam up a couple of days. So tomorrow we will commence sparring, and the day after that is your official graduation exam. You will be tested on your Transformation, Clone, and Substitution Jutsus."

Some in the class groaned while others were indifferent. Naruto was one of the indifferent ones. He wouldn't had minded if the graduation exam was pushed to today. But there was one thing that did interest him. If he had to guess who he would be pitted against tomorrow in a spar, it would have to be Uchiha Sasuke. The current number one vs the current number two. Who wouldn't want to arrange that? However, it was common knowledge that most Uchiha could perform the Fireball Jutsu, as it was seen as a rite of passage. That meant that Naruto would have to learn a jutsu to counter it. Looks like he had something else to work on.

"Naruto!" Iruka barked at him.

"Y-Yes sensei?" Naruto was caught completely off guard.

"How are you going to zone out while sitting in the front of the class? I expect better from you!" Iruka chasticed.

If looks could kill, Naruto would send Iruka a glare that would make him instantly drop dead. He knew how to read between the lines. Or "see underneath the underneath." _'I expect better from the son of the Yondaime!' _It was always 'Yondaime' this and 'Yondaime' that. He was his own person, he wasn't his father, no matter how much people wanted him to be.

"Now Naruto, read the board and answer the question. This should be easy for you."

Naruto stood and examined the board with a frown. The question read: _'Who was the previous container of the Kyuubi?'_

Was he now being asked questions due solely to his heritage too?

"Uzumaki Kushina," He replied. He did his best to not only hide his annoyance in his voice, but in his face as well.

"Very good, you may take your seat now."

Naruto did as he was told and took the time to scribble down a couple of notes to remind himself to work on the jutsu to counter Sasuke's Fireball Jutsu, and to get more shuriken from the weapons shop.

The bell rang and class was finally over. Naruto began to pack his belongings in his bag and make his way home when he was suddenly approached by a familiar blonde female.

"Naruto-kun!"

Naruto repressed his sigh as he put his backpack on. "Yes Ino?" He tried not to sound annoyed. He got enough attention from the villagers (and a certain Hyuuga stalker), he didn't want to have to deal with her as well. He just wanted to train.

She seemed to have fidgeted a bit, and looked down with a blush etched on her cheeks. Either she was pretending to be shy, or she genuinely was and her abrasive act was nothing more than a front. Though it was convient that she was acting this way when most of the students had began to file out.

"Would...would you mind coming to eat some ramen with me sometime?"

Naruto sweat-dropped for the third time. Ramen? He hated that stuff. He preferred fruits and vegetables, as well as rice and some fish on occassion. But still, he didn't want to turn her down and look like a jerk. He took a moment to think about where she could fit in his schedule, and realized that now would actually be a good time since he would still have the rest of the day for himself.

"Sure, we can go get some now if you want," Naruto said with a soft smile.

Ino's face lit up like a Christmas tree lights.

The walk to the ramen shop was unremarkable. Ino was so shy that it almost reminded him of a certain other girl who stalked him throughout the day (he was surprised that she wasn't stalking him now too.) When they entered the shop the two were greeted by a rather middle-aged looking man and a pretty young teenaged girl.

"Welcome!" They greeted in unison.

"To what do we owe the pleasure Naruto-sama? You don't come around here often."

Naruto nearly gritted his teeth at being called 'sama.' He did not deserve such a title. He didn't do anything worthy of note, so why was that honorific attached to his name?

"I just usually eat at other places," Naruto said politely. That was the nicest way for him to say that he didn't like eating there.

The middle-aged man looked toward Ino and then gave Naruto a somewhat knowing look.

"I see, so your girlfriend was the one to drag you here then?"

Naruto sweat-dropped for the fourth time that day.

Ino grew bashful.

"H-He's not my boyfriend..." She corrected. _'At least not yet.'_

"Oh, so it's a date then?" The middle-aged man pressed.

Naruto turned to gaze at Ino, who appeared to had been so red that she resembled a cherry, and then he gazed at the middle-aged man and smiled warmly. "Yes, it's a date."

Ino glanced at Naruto and did her best to suppress her squeal. She was on an official date with Naruto Namikaze! And his first date too! She felt that she was definitely in good with him.

Naruto saw her reaction and couldn't help but chuckle inwardly. He knew saying that would make her day, heck, it would probably make her year too. Maybe she could use that giddiness as energy to prepare for the exams coming up in just a couple of days.

After they ordered their food and ate in relative silence (aside from random common knowledge conversations) Naruto offered to walk Ino home, who surprisingly refused the offer and said that she was instead going to spend her free time training and that she needed to be alone to concentrate. Well, at least she had her priorities in order.

'_Onwards to the weapons shop.' _Naruto thought. One of the reasons he accepted Ino's offer was because of the fact that the ramen shop was close to the weapons shop. He entered and was greeted by a girl who was just a year older than himself and wore her hair in twin buns.

"Hello Naruto-sama!" The girl greeted politely with a bow.

"You don't have to add the 'sama' Tenten-san, you know I don't like that," he corrected her with a firm, but fair tone. He had known Tenten for awhile now, mainly because he always bought new shurikens and kunais. Naruto wasn't one to let his weapons grow dull and he practiced throwing them a lot. Tenten even helped him from time to time, but she was known for helping a lot of other academy students as well.

"Oh, sorry Naruto-sama. But my dad doesn't like it when I don't greet those above me with the proper respect," She explained.

"I'm not above you," Naruto shot back instantly. The preferential treatment that he constantly recieved wore on him, but he did his best not to let it show.

"R-Right, sorry Naruto-san." She said.

Naruto then told her that he was there to buy some more shuriken.

"Oh, by the way, that special custom kunai you wanted made is ready for you. I'll go get it for you," She said as she ran to the back and came back with the rather large (for a kunai) three-pronged kunai knife. It was an exact replica of the one Minato used to use while he was alive. It was a shame that Naruto wasn't capable of replicating his Flying Thunder God Technique, but he still liked how the kunai could be used in close quarters combat against those armed with virtually any other type of melee weapon.

"Thank you, Tenten," Naruto said graciously as he took it and went on his way.

* * *

Now that he had gotten his new shurikens (as well as his special kunai) his next step was to try to learn a new jutsu to use to counter Sasuke's Fireball jutsu. He decided to visit the library to see if he could stumble upon any useful information. Once he was there, he was able to find a useful book that talked about all the different elemental types. He learned that water was the natural counter to fire as one would expect, however, he realized that there was no way for him to manipulate water in the village since it was so humid and dry. The only other person who could do such a thing was Torbirama Senju, the greatest water user to have ever existed. So the best possibility for him was an Earth release technique, and he stumped upon the perfect one: Mud Wall.

It was a B-rank technique, which meant that learning it would be rather difficult, however, Naruto was confident that he could learn the technique inside of a day if he applied himself. He went outside to the training ground and began to practice the handseals first.

_'Tiger, Hare, Boar, Dog.' _He went over it again and again until he felt that the handseals were second nature to him. In the middle of a fight, he wouldn't have time to think about it. He would be forced to react instantly, as such, the handseal combination should be second nature for him.

Naruto did this for about an hour or so, but while he did it he noticed that his favorite stalker, Hinata, was behind him trying to peak from a nearby tree. He didn't bother to call her out. Maybe his training would inspire her to do well.

_'Alright, time to try the jutsu.'_

He did the handseals smoothly and slammed both of his hands on the ground.

**"Doton: Doryuheki!"**

Naruto smiled as a wall of Earth shot up from the ground. It wasn't anything grand however, but he realized that he could had made it bigger if he had poured more chakra into it. However, he figured that Sasuke wouldn't be able to make an exceedingly large fireball, so he figured that he wouldn't have to expend a lot of chakra on the technique. Unfortunately, as soon as the technique was done, Naruto felt himself become light-headed. He stumbled around for a bit before he then regained his balance by using another tree for support. He cursed himself for picking that jutsu to learn since he felt too wiped to do his shuriken training. Hopefully it didn't come back to bite him.


	2. The Sparring Begins

Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime

Naruto's alarm clock awoke him yet again. The fatigue that had overtook him after his training session vanished after a good night's sleep. Even though he didn't get the chance to practice his weapons accuracy like he planned, he thought that it would be worth the trade-off of surprising everyone when they see him perform a B-ranked jutsu. The looks on Iruka's and Mizuki's faces would be priceless to say the least. The son of the Yondaime bathed himself and began to get dressed in his usual Academy attire (his late father's old white hooded jacket) along with dark shinobi pants and sandals. He looked at the picture of his father and mother smiling happily together, the same one he always gazed upon before he left his home, and bowed his head in prayer. He prayed that his parents would give him the strength he needed to go about his daily endeavors.

Naruto stepped out of his house and was greeted by the sun shining mightily in the sky above. It was quite humid, but the gentle breeze offset the heat a touch enough to allow one to frolic outside. In other words, it was perfect sparring weather. Today would be the day that all of the Academy students would be pitted against one another in a simple sparring session that would test their capabilities. Generally, spars such as these would consist of purely hand-to-hand. But Naruto felt that since he would most likely be paired against Sasuke that the young Uchiha prodigy wouldn't help himself but to use his Fireball technique in order to show everyone how superior he was.

The blonde generally spent most of his time observing others and as a result, felt that he had a good grasp on everyone's personality types and he would even attempt to predict what they would do ahead of time. One person who astonished him the most was Shikamaru for instance. He saw him sleep through an entire lecture once and when the class was given a surprise pop-quiz on the subject, he was the first one to finish and 'accidentally' got a perfect score. He insisted that it was luck, but no one could be _that _lucky. He wanted to downplay his intelligence to perhaps keep attention off of himself. He was lazy and unmotivated, but he was still a genius in his own right.

On his way to school, the blonde happened to have ran into Ino, who was surprisingly taking the same path to the Academy that he did. It was odd however, since they lived in different parts of the village, and since that Naruto usually took the scenic route since he woke up early and could take his time.

"Naruto-kun! Fancy meeting you here huh?" Ino asked while walking beside him.

Naruto knew that it was anything but a coincidence. "You planned this," He stated matter-of-factly.

Ino gave him a look before stammering, "W-What are you talking about?! It was an accident! I didn't plan this at all!"

The blonde gave her a penetrating gaze, one that she hadn't known that he was capable of giving. It made her feel small compared to him (despite the fact that she almost dwarfed him).

"Okay, you're right," Ino finally gave in and slumped her shoulders in defeat. "But please don't think I'm weird! I just wanted to tell you that I enjoyed our date yesterday!"

Naruto looked straight ahead and smiled softly, although Ino would not be able to fully see his smile from her vantage point. "It was nice. Next time though, let's not go somewhere else okay?"

There was a pause.

"N-Next time?" Ino choked out.

_'Did I really say next time?' _Naruto sweat-dropped. Was that what they called a Freudian slip?

"Only if you pass the exams. I can't be seen with a dropout," Naruto quickly added to cover himself. He didn't like to throw his weight around but he deemed it absolutely necessary this time around. He wanted Ino to be focused more so on being an excellent kunoichi rather than on trying to seduce him. If Naruto had to describe his perfect woman, it would be one that could be able to keep up with him and push him to get stronger. Unfortunately, not a lot of kunoichi in his class could do that.

"Alright! I'll definitely pass and earn your love!" Ino declared while throwing her fist into the air.

Naruto gave her a nervous laugh. Maybe he had sent the wrong message.

* * *

Everyone filed into class and awaited at their desks for their instructor to show. Iruka was late, and some of the more rambuctious students began to grow antsy.

"Dammit where's Iruka-sensei!? It's almost been an hour now!" Kiba yelled out of frustration.

"You're noisy..." Shikamaru groaned as he attempted to catch up on some much needed sleep apparently. What kept him up late at night that required him to sleep so much during the day? You would think that a lazy person such as himself would spend most of the night sleeping and relaxing. Maybe he was just nocturnal.

Naruto stole a glance at Ino, who looked at him and winked, causing him to look away in embarassment. One of his deepest fears was that Ino would get a little too forward with him, and he honestly wasn't sure if he even liked her like in that capacity, or anyone for that matter. It wasn't uncommon for girls his age (and sometimes even women) to treat him uncharacteristically nice due to the fact that he was the son of the Fourth. If they married him, they would gain prestige and power. As such the blonde had the right to be weary of the intentions of the opposite sex. He didn't take kindly to being used.

Finally, after what had seemed like forever, Iruka entered the class and immediately ordered everyone to go outside in the schoolyard. Everyone did as they were told and Naruto knew that something important must have kept his sensei busy. When him and the rest of the class walked outside, he knew that he was right.

High ranking shinobi lined the fences to get a view of the next generation of Konoha shinobi. Naruto recognized one to appear to have been Kakashi due to his distinct white hair. No one in the entire village had hair like his. There was a female Jounin (he assumed) with dark, sparkling red eyes that he hadn't noticed before. Next to her was another Jounin he recognized as Sarutobi Asuma, the son of the Third Hokage. There was a rather odd-looking Jounin who stood near Kakashi and was attempting to converse with him (but Kakashi was paying him no mind). He had a bowl haircut and wore a tight green jumpsuit. Next to them stood Mizuki, as well as a short-haired female shinobi whom Naruto had never seen before. She was rather close to Mizuki it seemed, as they carried on with smiles on their visage. And last but not least, stood Iruka himself in front of all of the students.

"Alright everyone, as you can see we have some very important people gathered here today to watch all of you spar amongst one another. I figured that if people watched then it would inspire each and everyone one of you to try your best and not slack off," He glared at Shikamaru with his last words, and the Nara heir simply scoffed.

"Anyways, the first match will be Kiba Inuzuka versus Shikamaru Nara."

"Alright! Looks like I get to have an easy one!" Kiba exclaimed happily as he entered the sparring circle. Shikamaru didn't give the boy a response and simply took his time to walk in front of him.

"Perform the **Seal Of Confrontation**," Iruka ordered.

Both students did as they were told.

"And...begin!"

Kiba immediately closed the gap between Shikamaru and himself and began to attack him ferociously. The Nara heir was surprisingly quick however, and managed to avoid most of Kiba's attacks. Unfortunately, Shikamaru began to wear down ever so slightly and as such, was caught by a right hook toward his jaw that sent him reeling. The Inuzuka used the chance to attempt to close the distance and land an elbow toward his opponent's ribcage in hopes of ending the match. Unfortunately, he was met with a log instead, but that wasn't what surprised him the most. Shikamaru's substitution log had an explosive tag on it, which made all of the other students take a step back.

_'Oh no! I was careless!' _Kiba grimaced as he awaited for the tag to detonate.

But it never came.

Instead he felt the cold steel of a kunai threateningly press against his neck. It was wielded by Shikamaru.

Most of the Jounin were impressed with Shikamaru's fake-out. It seemed that the kid was extremely bright despite what his grades might had showed. He had potential.

"Winner, Shikamaru! Now perform the **Seal Of Reconciliation**!"

The two did as they were told. They were friends afterall and there was no bad blood between the two of them.

"Next match, Ino Yamanaka versus Hyuuga Hinata!"

"Alright! Naruto-kun! Watch me closely okay?" Ino said as she made her way toward the sparring ring. Out of the corner of his eye Naruto saw the Hyuuga heiress attempt to glance toward him, but then she quickly looked away when she saw that he was looking at her.

Now this would be an interesting match. Hinata and Ino were among the top kunoichi in the class (Sakura was the other one), so that proved Naruto theory correct. The students were being placed by their rankings. It made sense because no one wanted to see the talented students beat up on the less talented ones. If you invite spectators then why not give them a good show?

"Perform the **Seal Of Confrontation**!" Iruka ordered.

Ino did it with a smirk on her face. There was no way that she was going to lose in front of Naruto.

Ironically, Hinata thought the same exact thing.

"Now, begin!"

Hinata entered her Jyuuken stance and activated her Byakuugan. It was to be expected since most Hyuugas had it at an extremely early age. Ino knew that she could not attempt to fight her with Taijutsu, but due to her Byakuugan she couldn't use genjutsu either. She was at a disadvantage, she had to admit.

The Hyuuga heiress charged at her and attempted a frontal palm strike toward her ribcage. Ino skillfully dodged it and reached into her pouch and threw a shuriken at near point-blank range. It seemed that she had been practicing her drawing skills as she drew it and threw it with great speed and precision for someone of her level. Hinata. was barely able to side-step it, but by the time she did, she was met by a punch toward her jaw. Ino smirked confidentially and attempted to follow up with another punch, but it was swiftly parried. Fearing that the Hyuuga would go in for another strike, Ino disengaged completely and backed off of her opponent. She thought about her next move, but unfortunately she felt her arm go numb. Surprise was plastered all over her visage.

_'W-When did she-' _Then realization hit her. _'The parry! She must have channeled chakra through the hand that parried my attack!' _By the time those thoughts flowed through her mind, Hinata struck her in the chest with a powerful palm strike that sent Ino on to her back. The Yamanaka would have severe chest pain, but no serious internal damage would be suffered.

"Winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"

The two kunoichi then performed the Seal Of Reconciliation and made their way back to the rest of the students. Naruto was thoroughly impressed with Hinata's display, so he congratulated her on her performance. The Hyuuga heiress blushed a deep beet red and turned away from him shyly. The blonde scratched the back of his head at this and walked away from her. He wondered why he even bothered to speak with her sometimes. Ino saw the exchange between her crush and the Hyuuga girl and her visage softened. She was saddened almost to the point of tears, so she decided to hang in the back and wallow in her shame. Naruto wanted to find her in the crowd to attempt to lift her spirits, as he knew that she would probably be feeling down seeing as she wanted to do well for his sake.

Finally, he was able to find her. The Yamanaka girl sat alone near one of the swings, her head was down and she looked extremely depressed. When she saw Naruto, her gaze softened even more and she looked away from him. The blonde began to wonder what it was that made people not want to establish eye contact with him.

"What do you want?" Ino asked in a somber tone. It was obvious that Naruto was the last person she wanted to see.

Naruto approached her and took a seat on the swing closest to her. "You did well Ino," The blonde said.

Ino didn't even look at him. "You deserve better than me Naruto. I'm not worthy enough to try to cling to you."

The blonde frowned. He hated seeing the confident Ino like this, and it also hurt him how little she thought of herself in comparison to him. Naruto wasn't some extraordinary figure, even if he was the son of the Yondaime. Ino could easily surpass him if she put in the time and the effort. Her grades were already near the top of the class (she was ranked third behind Naruto and Sasuke respectively), maybe she just needed to apply herself more on the more practical side of being a ninja.

"You think too highly of me Ino-chan," Naruto said. Ino turned to look at him with wide eyes. Did he just use "chan?"

"Everyone expects me to do so well all the time that sometimes I believe that I can never truly satisfy everyone's expectations. But then there are times where I train hard not because I want everyone else to acknowledge me, but because it is my duty as a shinobi to be as fit as I can be so that I can protect the village that I live in." Naruto said.

Ino gazed upon the blonde, whose eyes were staring straight ahead at the rest of the students (and a couple of students who were currently engaged in a spar. One such student was Shino.) She didn't fully understand what Naruto was saying, but she believed that she understood the gist of it all. She shouldn't be so hung up on trying to impress him, she had obligations to herself, her clan, and more importantly, to the entire village. Hopefully through it all, Naruto would begin to notice her. But he shouldn't be her top priority.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. I think I understand now." The blonde-haired girl smiled softly at him.


	3. Naruto vs Sasuke

Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime

"Kakashi, what do you think of all of the future genin prospects so far?" A certain bowled hair cut jonin asked his eternal rival.

"Well, they certainly do have potential. But they still have a long way to go, at least compared to your team," Kakashi gazed at Guy out of the corner of his eye. He figured that Guy would be grading the students on a harsh scale, as he would expect for them to be somewhat on the same level as his genin group, who were already so far ahead of the others.

"I like the Nara kid, he seems real crafty," Asuma chimed in on the conversation. "I don't think his grades really do him any justice, he is much more capable than he is leading on."

Kakashi, Guy, and Kurenai all gave a nod of agreement.

"The Aburame kid won't be one to be trifled with either," Kurenai added. Shino easily won his sparring match against Chouji, and what made it even more impressive was that he did not have to use a single bug in order to win. He beat the Akamichi with his pure taijutsu prowess. He definitely appeared to had been a natural prodigy.

"Well, the Hyuuga heiress is good too. Unfortunately, she's no where near the level that Neji is," Guy was sure to praise his student's talents over that of the academy student. It always impressed him how far along Neji was in his development considering the fact that he was a Branch member of the Hyuuga clan, while Hinata was instead a member of the Main house. It was quite ironic how Neji was doomed to a life of servitude to the Main house despite the fact that he was perhaps the Hyuuga's most promising talent.

"Neji is a prodigy far beyond his years, it wouldn't be fair to compare him to Hinata," Kakashi said flatly. Guy sneered at his tone. "Anyways, I think we all know the real reason why we're here."

Their gazes shifted to that of both Uchiha Sasuke and Naruto Namikaze respectively. Not enough could be said about the talent that those two future shinobi held. Both had the top marks in their class, and they had a prestigious lineage. Sasuke was the last of the Uchiha, and although he hadn't unlocked his sharingan as of yet, one could only imagine how formidable he would be with it since he was so far ahead of the majority of his peers already. He was also the younger brother of Uchiha Itachi, who was such a talented shinobi that he had became an ANBU captain at the tender age of 13.

Sasuke had undoubtley received at least some form of training with Itachi before the dreaded Uchiha Massacre, but ever since that shocking and tragic event happened the boy had never quite been the same. It was obvious what his primary goal was, to kill Itachi and restore his clan. But that path would be a dark and lonely one for him, and hopefully he could be absolved of his vengeance once he realizes the importance of teamwork and relying on others. Hopefully it would help the Uchiha kid see the bigger picture.

On the other hand, there was Naruto Namikaze, the son of the Yondaime and who many call the savior of the village. He is heralded as a hero by the masses due to the fact that it is by his will alone that the Kyuubi has been contained. There are a select few who may despise him, but they would never openly do so with fear of being shunned. Naruto was definitely a prodigy in his own right, however it would be hard to say if he could ever be the type of shinobi his father was. Perhaps that would be the blonde's greatest challenge, to get out of his father's shadow. Kakashi himself could sympathize with Naruto's plight, as he spent the majority of his young life attempting to be the type of shinobi his father was not - one that would strictly follow the rules.

"Alright, without further ado, the final match will be Namikaze Naruto versus Uchiha Sasuke!"

All eyes were on the two prodigies as they made their way to the sparring ring. Both did well to hide their emotions from one another, as they had stoic faces placed firmly on their visage. It was almost as if they weren't looking at each other, instead it seemed that they were looking _through _each other. Still, they had already began to formulate their battle strategy. Sasuke was confident in his taijutsu skills, and he figured that he could overwhelm the son of the Yondaime with his quick and precise movement. Naruto himself relied a lot on speed, quickness, and counter-attacks. He loved to feign that he was on the defensive to allow his opponent to feel superior, where he would then strike when they would make a mistake.

"Now, perform the **Seal Of Confrontation**!"

Both did as they were told. There was complete silence as an ominous wind blew across the training ground. All eyes were on them, but it was as if they were in their own little world.

"And..."

All of the students paid special attention to this match, as well as the instructors and the Jonin that agreed to attend. It was nice and all to see the next generation of ninja battle, but when they heard that the Uchiha prodigy would go against the legacy of the Fourth, they could not pass it up.

"Begin!"

They charged at each other.

Naruto's assessment on Sasuke was correct, he was definitely the aggressive type, as well as extremely quick. The blonde did his best dodging, weaving, and ducking each and every strike the Uchiha attempted to hit him with. It seemed that he had every move in his arsenal, from jabs to leg sweeps to hooks and uppercuts as well as knees and elbows, he wasn't holding anything back. Naruto kept his feet moving and circled around his opponent as he parried, dodged, leapt away from each and every strike the raven-haired boy attempted. Although Sasuke held a neutral face, Naruto could tell that he had become visibly frustrated, which was best exemplified when the Uchiha brandished a kunai and came at him at full force. Naruto took out a kunai as well and the two began to go at it once again.

The heir of the Yondaime went on the offensive this time around, as he attempted to stab and slice at the Uchiha's torso, who was nimble enough to evade each attempt the blonde made. Naruto miscalculated the timing of a stab and Sasuke took advantage of it by slicing the blonde's wrist, which made him drop his kunai. '_Now!' _The Uchiha thought as he attempted to follow up with a hard punch toward the bridge of Naruto's nose with his opposite hand. Naruto was able to duck the attempt at the knick of time and he nimbly picked up his kunai and slashed toward Sasuke's ankle all in one motion. Sasuke avoided the brunt of it but he still had a small cut on his left ankle, which angered him. It seemed that he underestimated the blonde's speed, who must had kicked it up a new gear after he had been holding back for so long. Still, it wasn't something he couldn't deal with, evidenced by him charging at Naruto at _his _full speed.

He attempted several more stabs and slashes with his own kunai knife, though they were all blocked by Naruto. These attempts were nothing more than feints however, as the last of the Uchiha stealthily brandished a second kunai and attempted to thrust it toward the blonde's chest. Seemingly out of nowhere did Naruto brandish a three-bladed, heavier kunai that not only knocked Sasuke's kunai out of his hand and onto the ground below, but also managed to graze his cheek in one fell swoop. Visibly upset, the raven-haired boy blind-sighted Naruto with an upward kick that knocked his special three-bladed kunai out of his hand and into the air. He then charged at the blonde and the two entered in a deadlock of sorts as they both had their hands wrapped together in a clench. The special kunai that was in the air finally made its way down to the ground, and just when it appeared that Sasuke was getting the better of Naruto, the blonde elevated his body and drop-kicked the Uchiha backwards.

Sasuke had finally reached his boiling point, and while his body skidded back, he began to effortlessly go through the handseals of a jutsu that he was all too familiar with. Naruto bounced off of the ground and managed to catch the last handseal that the raven-haired boy would form before he would fire his signature jutsu.

'_That's the tiger seal!'_

Iruka's eyes grew wide at the sight of it, and some of the other Jonin were mildly shocked as well. Was the Uchiha kid really about to use _that _jutsu?

"Wait Sasuke, don't do that here! What about the other students-" Iruka's plea went on deaf ears.

**"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!**"

A rather large ball of fire escaped from his lips and careened toward the son of the Yondaime at great speeds. Iruka realized that he would be too slow in helping Naruto, and the other Jonins in attendance thought the same thing. They would hope that Naruto would be able to make it to safety in time, otherwise he would be severely injured if he would take the attack head on. He didn't seem the type who would take Sasuke's jutsu lying down so they stayed out of it. It was a gamble but it was one that they were collectively willing to take. Iruka however, figured that if he couldn't save Naruto, he could at least warn the other students who were in a state of shock.

"Everyone! Run!" Iruka ordered.

The students for the most part remained frozen in fear. There were a select few (like Chouji and Shikamaru for instance) who didn't have to be told twice and made their way toward a safe distance. But what was perhaps the eeriest thing about the whole matter was how perfectly calm Naruto was, and it was something that Iruka, as well as the other spectators couldn't quite put their fingers on.

When they saw Naruto fly through his handseals, they began to understood why he stood firm in the face of the grand fireball that threatened to turn him to ash.

"**Doton!" **Naruto slammed both of his hands onto the ground as the fireball got closer and closer. "**Doryuheki!**"

The collision created a small-scaled explosion of fire and super-heated rock to rain down on the students, who shouted in fright and ran for cover as to not get burned. The jonins however were thoroughly impressed with what they saw. '_As expected from the top two students.'_ They all thought.

Iruka however, was not pleased. "Okay that's enough!" Iruka exclaimed as he now stood between both Naruto and Sasuke. "I'm calling this match before either of you endanger anymore of your classmates!" He barked at them. He seemed pretty upset, and he had every right to be, but beneath it all he was extremely proud of them as well. They both displayed jutsu far beyond their current level. The future was bright for them both and he was honored to have had the opportunity to instruct them both.

"Now, perform the **Seal Of Reconciliation**."

Both of them slowly made their way towards one another, albeit a tad disappointed that there couldn't had been an official winner. Despite that, they both performed the seal.

And they smiled happily at each other.


	4. The Defection Of Mizuki Part I

Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime

Today was the most important day of Naruto's young life. Today was the day that he would pass his exams and officially become a Konoha shinobi. One could say that he was quite haughty in believing that he would simply pass his exams, but the truth of the matter was that the blonde had been preparing his entire life for this day, so there was no doubt in his mind that he would pass his exam with flying colors. He was so excited that his alarm didn't even have to wake him up, in fact, he had already showered and gotten dressed in his usual attire by the time his alarm was supposed to have went off. Bored, he figured that an early training exercise before the exams wouldn't hurt. He gazed at the picture of his father, Minato, and his mother, Kushina, and bowed his head in prayer. _'Watch over me.'_ He then went on about his way.

The sun hadn't quite shown its face in the sky, so the sky was a dark shade of blue and the temperature itself was exceptionally cooler than normal. Usually Konoha had warm, though mostly humid, weather and had an abundance of cool breezes that would normally sweep through the landscape. While Naruto was on his way to one of the Academy's training grounds, he spotted one of his instructors, Mizuki, with a female shinobi with short black hair and dark eyes. Naruto recognized her as the same kunoichi who appeared to had been particularly friendly with Mizuki while they spectated the sparring sessions just the day before.

"Yo, Naruto!" Mizuki called out to him. Naruto made his way toward his instructor and gave him a soft smile.

"Morning sensei," Naruto said respectfully. He then turned his gaze to the kunoichi, who looked at the blonde and flashed him a friendly smile.

"And who might this lovely lady be?" Naruto asked. His voice carried with it a small flirtatious tinge, but it was mostly in jest. The kunoichi took it in stride and giggled at the son of the Yondaime's words.

Mizuki however, wasn't as pleased. He gave a loud cough and said, "This, Naruto, is my girlfriend Tsubaki."

Naruto perked a brow at him. "Girlfriend? Is that why you two are up so early, going on a romantic stroll?" The way he asked didn't seem to have been a question, it seemed as if he seeked confirmation.

"I don't think that's any of your business Naruto," Mizuki said, his voice a bit firm.

The blonde narrowed his eyes at him just a touch as the tension between them increased. Honestly, Naruto didn't have much love for Mizuki. He could tell that his kind act was all a front. The way his instructor looked at him sometimes put him on edge, and he didn't much care for it. The blonde was sure that Mizuki somewhat despised him, but he did not know why and he had no hard evidence to prove his theory.

"Now, now boys, let's just settle down okay?" Tsubaki stood in the middle of them and her gaze went back and forth between both Naruto and Mizuki, hoping that the tension between them would decrease. They seemed to not have much love for one another, which was strange since Mizuki generally spoke highly of Naruto, and would even occassionally call him a hero.

"You're right Tsubaki-chan. Please forgive me Naruto-kun," Mizuki said as he gave Naruto an apologetic bow.

Naruto bowed at Mizuki, then turned to Tsubaki. "I apologize for my intrusiveness, Tsubaki-_chan._" To Tsubaki, the "chan" part made her laugh nervously. She didn't read too much into it, as she knew that Naruto was merely being flirtatious to get a rise out of Mizuki, which seemed to have been working since his teeth were grinding together and his fists were clenched. He was practically seething with anger.

Naruto then took off toward the training ground immediately afterwards, but he could still feel the glare of Mizuki's eyes on him as he ran.

* * *

The son of the Fourth's training session wasn't anything special. In truth, he didn't train much at all. He was much too antsy due to the fact that his graduation exam was just a mere couple hours away, so the most he could manage to do were basic stretches and standard endurance exercises such as push-ups and sit-ups. He was thankful that he was up early enough before a certain Hyuuga admirer could get the opportunity to spy on him. Time seemed to have passed particularly fast, and before Naruto knew it, it was time to prepare for class. Since he was already at the Academy's training ground, he was the first one to arrive. The second person to file in was Shino, who merely gave Naruto a nod of acknowledgement before he made his way into the back corner of the class where he always sat. Pretty soon more and more students made their way to class, including a certain blonde female that was somewhat excited.

"Naruto-kun! How are you this morning!?" Ino asked him with a soft smile as she sat on the desk itself in front of him. She had positioned herself so that her legs dangled to either side of his seated position, as he was now between them both. It took all of Naruto's restraint not to stare too hard at her legs (or at a particular spot between them), and he actually scooted away from her just a touch so that he could have at least some semblance of personal space.

"I'm fine Ino-chan," Naruto replied with a somewhat forced smile. He knew that since he had already made the grave mistake of using the 'chan' honorific that he could not go back and change it by not saying it altogether lest he wanted to upset her.

"So, are you ready for the exam today? I know I am! I'll pass for sure!" Ino exclaimed as flames of determination ignited in her eyes.

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Uhm, sure."

The Yamanaka girl then suddenly grew a bit bashful as she blushed heavily and looked down as if to avoid eye contact with him. "So...after we both pass, how about we celebrate together? Just the two of us?"

"W-Well...uh..." Naruto really wanted to come up with a valid excuse, but he couldn't think of one. He then gave a defeated sigh as he realized that he would have to humor her request since he felt like she wouldn't take no for an answer anyways. "...I guess we could go get some dumplings or something." He murmured.

Ino practically squealed as she jumped off of the desk and hugged him tightly. Naruto managed to break the hug and he then scolded her a bit, saying that he didn't give her an invitation to touch him. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment but she was still practically bouncing with excitement and floated her way to her seat next to Sakura.

"Why are you so happy?" Sakura asked.

"I have a date with Naruto-kun," Ino responded dreamily. "So what about you and Sasuke? Making any progress?"

Sakura huffed and turned her head away from Ino, whose grin grew even wider. She got to go on a date with Naruto _and _piss off her rival, could the day get any better?

Pretty soon Iruka entered the class right as the final bell rang and garnered everyone's attention.

"Okay class, we'll be jumping right into the exam so that you all may have the rest of the day to yourselves. I'm sure each and every one of you will pass, just remember what you have been taught and trust in your training."

One by one, Iruka called each and every student individually into the testing room. If they passed, they would enter the classroom with their ninja headband wrapped around their forehead. The students would then congratulate them, and Iruka would enter the class to call in the next one.

"Next up is Ino Yamanaka!"

Ino turned to look at Naruto, who gave her a thumbs up. She smiled at his gesture and then left the classroom to enter the exam room. After a few minutes, she excitedly entered the classroom with her ninja headband proudly on display. She immediately ran to Naruto and hugged him, to which he promptly broke the hug and scolded her for the second time about personal space.

"Good job Ino, I expected no less from you," He congratulated her with a kind smile which made her blush.

"Next is Naruto Namikaze!" Iruka said.

"Good luck, Naruto-kun!" Ino said.

Naruto flashed her a gentle smile before he entered the exam room. Like he thought, the exam proctors were seated together at a desk in front of a spacious room. Those in attendance were Iruka, Mizuki, Tsubaki, a few Jonin who Naruto did not recognize, and the Third Hokage himself in between them.

"Alright Naruto, do the Transformation Jutsu. It can be of anyone, including anyone of the exam proctors," Iruka said.

The blonde performed the appropriate handseals and shouted, "**Henge**!" He then transformed into Minato Namikaze, his father. It was a perfect replication, and one that came easy to Naruto since he and his father had a remarkable resemblance to each other, and he knew that the proctors would appreciate the gesture of him transforming into the Fourth.

After all of the proctors gave a nod of approval, Iruka then said "Alright, now perform a Clone Jutsu."

Naruto performed the handseals. "**Bushin**!" He then created an exact replica of himself, who stood in a neutral position much like the original.

All the proctors gave a nod of approval. "Alright, now perform-"

Before Iruka could finish his sentence, a shuriken was thrown directly at Naruto's chest. Everyone appeared to had been in a state of shock when it collided with him, that was, until 'Naruto' turned into smoke, revealing a log instead. The real Naruto was right next to the log, and he stared daggers at Mizuki, who was the culprit.

"Mizuki! Have you lost your mind!?" Iruka shouted at him.

'_Ho, Ho, your son has excellent reflexes, Minato.'_ The Third Hokage thought while nonchalantly smoking his pipe.

"I was simply testing Naruto's reflexes was all. One would expect that the son of the Fourth would be able to dodge a simple shuriken no?" Mizuki asked innocently, but Iruka continued to give him an incredulous look. Tsubaki covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She was no fool, Mizuki wanted to frighten Naruto and teach him a lesson for what had occurred earlier that morning. But for him to do so in such an aggressive manner was uncharacteristic of him. He was usually a kind, generous, and patient man. He wasn't prone to acts of violence.

"Mizuki is correct," The Third Hokage said. "If Naruto was unable to use the Substitution Jutsu to dodge a simple shuriken, then that means that he would be unable to apply the technique properly in battle, thus meaning that he would be unfit to be a shinobi of the Leaf."

Iruka gritted his teeth. Why was it that Naruto was the one who had to be tested harshly instead of all of the others? Not even Sasuke was tested as harshly, and he was a genius just like Naruto was.

Naruto did his best to maintain a stoic visage despite the fact that he was practically beside himself at the moment. Not only was Mizuki able to outright attack him, but there was no doubt in Naruto's mind that he did it due to the confrontation that they had earlier that morning. The blonde knew the message he was trying to send him. '_Stay the hell away from my woman.' _And in addition, he was able to get away with it solely due to the fact that Naruto was the Fourth Hokage's son. He imagined that the other students wouldn't have to go through what he did in order to pass.

"Alright Naruto, you've passed your exams with flying colors as expected. You may now retrieve your headband from the table," Iruka said with a smile.

Naruto nodded and grabbed his headband and took his leave. He entered the classroom and saw a smiling Ino, however, she frowned once she saw Naruto's expression. He had dropped his stoic mask as soon as he left the examination room, and instead had something of a scowl on his face. He sat down at his desk and stared at his headband, which he had placed on the desk.

"Uhm, Naruto-kun, is everything okay?" Ino asked.

He didn't respond. Could she not tell just by looking at him? He wasn't in the mood to talk. Never mind the fact that he was blatantly attacked and that his suspicions regarding Mizuki not liking him was all but confirmed, but it was due to the fact that he was Minato's son that Mizuki's act became excusable. It was always the same. No matter how hard Naruto worked, or how much he had grown, everything came back to his father. He passed because it was 'expected', he substituted a shuriken that was thrown at near point-blank range because it was 'expected' of him, he was able to learn a B-ranked Earth jutsu inside of a day not because he had worked hard on it, but because it was 'expected' from the Yondaime's son. When would he ever be judged by his own merits?

"Naruto-kun, are you alright?" Ino pressed. She didn't very much like the look that was on his face. It seemed...eerie. His intense glare somewhat suited him, and that surprised her to an extent. She was used to his friendly smile, but she couldn't help but think that maybe his smiles were all fake, and that she was now looking at the 'real' Naruto.

Still, he gave no response. Instead, he gave her the same death glare that he had been giving the headband, which made her back away from him in fear.

"U-Uhm...I-I'll leave you alone then," She stammered as she let the blonde boy stew in his thoughts.

* * *

It was approaching night time in Konoha, and Naruto was alone on one of the training grounds blowing off some steam. He didn't go on that date with Ino he promised because he was too upset with the situation in the exam room. Whenever the blonde was feeling angry, he would train as a means to relieve stress. As it began to get even later, and the moon began to show its face, Naruto figured that now would be a good time to head home. Tomorrow would be the day that he would be assigned to his ninja team, and he couldn't be more excited about it. He would learn from and train with his fellow genin teammates as well as a Jonin instructor, and he would use the opportunity to work hard and learn as much as he could. On his way home however, a shadowy figure impeded his path. Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the individual, who he recognized to had been Tsubaki. She seemed extremely distraught about something, and he could tell that she had been crying due to the tear residue on her cheeks that glistened in the moonlight.

"Naruto, do you mind if we talk in private?"

The blonde lead the female Chunin into his home, and she casually took a seat in the chair of his study while Naruto himself stood in the corner with his arms crossed.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Naruto asked her.

Tsubaki gazed downward for a moment, then her eyes shifted upward and stared at Naruto's. "Please forgive Mizuki for what he did!" She exclaimed to him. Naruto narrowed his eyes at her, which in turn caused her to recoil a bit.

"He...he didn't mean it. He speaks highly of you, he called you a hero. You're the container of the Kyuubi, and it is your strong will that keeps that terrible beast at bay. He just wasn't thinking straight, and he's always been protective of me. So please, forgive him."

Naruto gave her a look, one that the Chunin recognized as a look of suspicion. "You came to me just to ask me to forgive Mizuki?"

Tsubaki bit her bottom lip. It seemed that the boy was more perceptive than she had thought. "Well, no. You see, Mizuki has been acting strange lately. We got into a huge argument over what he did to you at home, and he stormed out of the house. I had never seen him so angry before, it's just not like him. And when I began to straighten up the house to help clear my head, I found a scroll with detailed plans of him to take the Scroll of Seals from the Hokage Tower!"

Naruto's eyes widened with shock. He knew that something was off with Mizuki, but for him to be a traitor...it made no sense. What would motivate him to betray Konoha? "Why are you telling me this? Why not tell the ANBU?"

"Because...because you're the Fourth Hokage's son and the hero of our village!" Tsubaki exclaimed with tears in her eyes. Naruto clenched his fists. He was angry, but, it wasn't the same anger that he had felt before. There was something in him that told him that it was his responsibility now as a ninja of Konoha to protect the village from all threats. It was true that he didn't particularly like being compared to his father, but there were certain similarities that he had to embrace. And they both had an overwhelming desire to protect the village and everyone in it.

"And it's because I figured that you'd turn the other cheek, and perhaps convince Mizuki to give up on his plot. I know that there may be bad blood between you two but..." Her voice trailed off, but she didn't have to speak anymore. She figured that Naruto would be young enough, naive enough, to try and talk Mizuki down from his schemes. It seemed her gamble paid off however, as Naruto's intention was to do just exactly that.

"Take me to your house," Naruto said.

Tsubaki lead Naruto to Mizuki's room, and on his desk was indeed his detailed plan to steal the Scroll Of Seals from the Hokage Tower. He knew every shift of every ANBU Operative, and he knew who would let him through to the Hokage Residence if he would so choose and who wouldn't. It must have taken years of planning, and it was something that one would not had expected out of him. Through the facade of a kind and caring teacher was a shinobi who had a deep lust for power. It proved that no one could ever be above suspicion, and that shinobi must always be vigilant, even when it came to one of their own.

Naruto then noticed an important detail that Tsubaki had apparently glossed over when reading the scroll that outlined Mizuki's plan. The silver haired Chunin didn't just storm out of the house to cool off, he left because tonight was the night that he was going to actually carry out his plan to steal the scroll.

"Tsubaki, Mizuki is on his way to stealing the Scroll of Seals!" Naruto exclaimed. He then heard a distinct _Clink! _sound, which was one he familiarized to had been the sound of a kunai being drawn. He turned around to see Tsubaki with a kunai knife in her hand, which immediately put the blonde on guard and his senses into high alert.

"I know, Naruto," She said as tears ran down her cheeks. "I have _always_ known about his plan."

Naruto backed away from her in case she would make any sudden movements to ensure that he would have time to react. "What do you mean?"

"She means that she has lead you into my trap."

Naruto's eyes went wide with shock.

That voice was unmistakeable.

It was Mizuki.


	5. The Defection Of Mizuki Part II

Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime

Naruto turned to see Mizuki perched in the window in a crouching position. On his back was a large scroll which Naruto assumed must had been the Scroll Of Seals that he had successfully retrieved from the Hokage's Residence. He had a cocky smirk etched on his visage, one that the son of the Fourth couldn't wait to wipe off of his face if he was ever given the chance.

"What do you mean? What's going on here?" The blonde genin asked as he looked back and forth between Mizuki and Tsubaki. They could tell that he was practically begging for an explanation.

"Thirteen years ago, the Kyuubi attacked the village," Tsubaki started as she began to wipe away her tears. It was a useless endeavor however, as more continued to stream down her cheeks. "That monster killed lots of people...including my parents." The kunoichi clutched her kunai knife so tight that it drew blood on both of her hands.

"That wretched demon fox also took my own family away from me," Mizuki added. "That's what brought me and Tsubaki together, our hatred for you!"

Naruto gritted his teeth. "But I'm not the Kyuubi, I'm Naruto Namikaze, I'm my own person. Just because the beast was sealed inside of me doesn't mean-"

"Shut up!" Mizuki shouted at him, which made Naruto tense up. "Just shut up! What's to say that the beast inside of you won't take over!? Can you ever guarantee that it won't?! Can you promise us that it will never end up controlling your actions!?"

Naruto looked away from him. It was true that on his belly was the Eight Trigrams Seal that his father used to put the Kyuubi inside of him, however, as powerful as the demonic fox was, what was to say that it wouldn't completely devour him? What if it was just merely bidding its time? It was something that somewhat bothered him in the back of his mind, but he always tried to ignore it. The very thought that he didn't have control over his own body was too much for his mind to bear.

"Exactly! You're a danger to not only yourself, but everyone in the village as well! But these stupid villagers praise you as some kind of hero, as a symbol of the will of the Yondaime," Mizuki scoffed. "What a joke. You're no hero, you're just a kid who was born with a freak of nature inside of his belly!"

Naruto's eyes grew wide, and his visage then softened. Mizuki was right, he was absolutely right. He was no hero, and he didn't deserve the praise that he was constantly given. He wasn't some powerful prodigious child that was constantly at war with the demonic fox in his own psyche. He simply lived a normal life like any other teenager his own age did, the only difference was that he attended the Ninja Academy and worked hard to be among the top students of his class.

The expression that was plastered on Naruto's visage made Mizuki smirk with satisfaction. "I see you finally understand huh? Well then just be a good little demon fox and let Tsubaki finish you off." Mizuki said as he then disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

Naruto stared at Tsubaki, who continued to clutch her kunai firmly between her hands. "Please Naruto, don't resist. Let me have my revenge." She took a step towards him.

Naruto backed away from her. "Do you honestly think that I'm going to just let you kill me?" He asked this question to merely stall as he used his free hand to inch closer and closer to his ninja tools pouch located on the back of his waist.

"Naruto, I beg of you," The kunoichi took another step closer to him as even more tears began to stream down her face. "Let me have my peace. Know that I hold no ill will towards you, in fact, I kind of liked you. However, that..._thing _within you must die!"

"Tsubaki, you don't have to do this-" Naruto then stopped mid-sentence as his nose picked up a peculiar scent.

'_Wait, what's that smell?'_

_Sssszzzz!_

The blonde could smell something, it was as if something in the room was burning. Not only that, but he heard the sound of something cooking or...sizzling? He concentrated by flowing chakra into his nose, and once he took a waft he knew that his instinct wasn't wrong. Something _was _burning, but what was it?

Tsubaki saw that Naruto was distracted and attempted to lunge at him with her kunai. The blonde quickly responded by brandishing his special three-bladed kunai and used it to swipe at Tsubaki's kunai in order to disarm the kunoichi. Her kunai was sent flying towards the wall opposite of their position, and it in turn left a hole big enough for Naruto to see that beneath it was a faint red glimmer of light that was slowly...retreating?

Then it hit him.

The smell of something burning, as well as the sight of a flicker of flame in which seemed to had been fleeting...

It was an explosive tag. Mizuki must had planted several of them in the room alone in hopes of not only killing Naruto, but Tsubaki as well. The fact that he would kill his own lover while he ran away freely from the village proved that the silver-haired Chunin cared of little else other than himself. He was extremely selfish and he was willing to bend any rule and sacrifice anyone in order for him to get what he wanted.

"Tsubaki! We have to get out of here now!" Naruto exclaimed to her.

"H-Huh!?"

The blonde didn't have time for a debate. He quickly grabbed her wrist and leapt out of the window. No sooner did their bodies clear the building did it finally detonate like an oversized bomb. The grand explosion generated a shockwave that nearly shook the entire village to its very core, and it sent Naruto as well as Tsubaki reeling.

Naruto used his body to shield Tsubaki from the brunt of the fall, as well as the impact of when their bodies finally touched ground. The blonde grunted as he attempted to move. He was fortunate to have only escaped with a few scrapes and bruises from the fall, as the explosion itself was mostly made to harm those inside of the house as opposed to outside of it.

"Tsubaki, are you okay?" Naruto asked her as he crouched over her.

"Why...why did you save me? I tried to kill you, yet you went out of your way to save me...why would you go so far for me?" Tsubaki asked him with wide eyes.

Naruto stood up and began to brush himself off, all the while he never broke eye contact with the black haired kunoichi. "There are a lot of reasons to kill someone, but when it comes to saving a life, does there really have to be one other than that it's the right thing to do?" He asked her as he helped her on to her feet. Tsubaki stared at Naruto thoughtfully. There was no way that the demon responsible for killing her parents in cold blood was within the boy in front of her. He was far too kind, too gentle, too forgiving.

"You were simply being manipulated by someone you cared about, so I bear no grudge against you." Naruto explained. "Now, tell me where Mizuki is headed to." He ordered.

Tsubaki seemed hesitant to reveal the information at first, but after nearly being killed by the man she had loved the most, she felt as if she had no obligation to protect him anymore. She had traveled down the path of darkness with him for long enough, she was not about to allow herself to be consumed by hatred like he had allowed himself to. She was given a second chance at life by the very person she had despised, and she wasn't about to waste it.

"He's headed to Otogakure, he planned on giving the scroll to Orochimaru."

Naruto perked his brow. "Orochimaru?"

Tsubaki nodded. "He was one of the three legendary sannin along with Jiraya and Tsunade. He defected from the village after he was caught experimenting on fellow villagers several years ago. I guess Mizuki wants to get in good with him in order to gain more power. I should have known that was all he cared about..." Her voice trailed off, and her sadness only made Naruto more determined to stop the traitor.

"Which direction is Otogakure?"

"It's to the east but-"

"You stay here and alert the ANBU of Mizuki's intentions, I'll track him down."

"But Naruto-" Tsubaki's words fell on deaf ears as Naruto disappeared from plain sight.

* * *

Naruto knew that he was going the right direction since he had to be extra careful when it came to not triggering any traps that Mizuki had left behind. Most of them seemed to have been set far in advance as some failed to even trigger at all. However, the blonde could tell that he was gaining on the silver-haired chunin since the frequency of recently disturbed tree branches from Mizuki jumping off of them began to increase. And it was only but a matter of time before he could visually see the chunin just a ways ahead of himself.

"It's over, Mizuki! Drop the scroll!" Naruto called out to him as he stealthily reached into his back pouch to brandish a few shuriken.

"Not on your life brat!" Mizuki barked as he performed what Naruto recognized to had been the tiger seal. "**Kage Bushin No Jutsu**!" Two other Mizuki clones appeared and began to charge at Naruto full force.

'_Bushins? That won't work on me.' _Naruto then threw his shurikens toward the real Mizuki since he assumed that he could safely ignore the clones that were going towards him. Unfortunately he was wrong as the clone drew their kunais and knocked the shurikens away before tackling Naruto out of the trees and onto the ground below. The blonde landed on the ground with a large thud and as he attempted to stand up he saw the original Mizuki descend from the sky and land right in front of him, as well as his two clones.

'_What? These clones are real? What kind of jutsu is this?' _Naruto thought.

Mizuku gave a haughty laugh. "You should have never challenged me brat, you should have just died along with Tsubaki, but no matter, I guess the old saying is true. If you want things done right you better do it yourself! **Kage Bushin No Jutsu**!"

Even more clones began to materialize around Naruto, who quickly found himself surrounded. Suddenly, one of the clones rushed him, and using all of his speed, he managed to dodge one of the clone's punches and stabbed it with a kunai, effectively dispelling it. Then suddenly two more clones came at him, and when he made short work of them by throwing multiple shuriken at their torso, four more clones took their place. Quickly finding himself overwhelmed, the blonde threw a smoke bomb on the ground and hid behind one of the trees of the forest, which enticed laughter from Mizuki.

"Do you really think that you can hide from me brat? I'll just flush you out! **Kage Bushin No Jutsu**!" Even more clones were formed, and they all set out to find Naruto's location. The blonde used his **Kakuremino no Jutsu **(Cloak Of Invisibility) to blend into the environment. Once an unsuspecting clone appeared before him, he unveiled himself and performed a swift chop to the back of its next, quickly dispelling it. No sooner did he destroy it however did he hear several clones vastly approach him.

'_How did they find me?' _Naruto thought as he attempted to run to avoid detection. '_I was definitely quiet. The only other explanation I can come up with is that the clones are somehow linked with one another. But there must be a weakness.'_ One of the clones got the jump on Naruto while he was still deep in thought and punched him square in his jaw. However, Naruto was surprised to find that the punch didn't particularly hurt him much, and the clone was also surprised to see Naruto take the blow almost as if it was nothing. Naruto then used the opportunity to land a solid kick toward the clone's chest, effectively dispelling it. '_That clone's attack barely even phased me. I imagine that this technique is much like the Bushin Jutsu, expect much more taxing. Maybe the clones are only as powerful as the amount of chakra used to make them. Since that clone was weak however, that means that Mizuki must be running dangerously low on chakra. I can use that to my advantage.'_

* * *

Mizuki cursed under his breath. He had used a lot of his chakra already, and it seemed that the Kyuubi brat was much more resilient than he had originally thought. Still, it was all but a matter of time before he would catch up to him since he knew the blonde kid's location. As if on cue, Naruto revealed himself before Mizuki, who drew his extremely large Fuma Shuriken.

"Have you finally accepted your death?" Mizuki taunted. Naruto didn't respond as he drew a kunai knife and charged directly at the silver haired chunin, who in turn threw his shuriken directly at the blonde. Mizuki smirked once he saw that he had made contact, but then he quickly frowned when he saw that he had merely hit a substitution log. However, he was able to see an explosive tag latched on to the log so he quickly jumped backwards to avoid it, only for the tag to have not detonated at all.

"Wh-What!?" Mizuki landed on the ground and tripped over a wire which triggered a kunai to be launched at him from a distance. Using his speed and advanced reflexes, he quickly grabbed the kunai while it was in mid-air and saw that it had an explosive tag on it that wasn't detonating.

"Heh, did he really think that he could fool me with the same trick twice-"

_Sssssszzzz!_

_'What? But isn't this a dud!?' _Mizuki then turned the kunai around to find that the _real _explosive tag was on the _other _side of the kunai knife. Naruto wanted to lead the chunin into a false sense of security by establishing a pattern of duds so that he wouldn't look for a _real _explosive tag even if it was virtually in plain sight. That kid was truly a master of deception.

_'Shit!' _

_BANG!_

A large explosion erupted, and Naruto was finally able to reveal himself from his hiding spot amongst the trees. He found Mizuki's battered and bloodied form leaning against a tree for support. The chunin attempted to stand on his own two feet and maintain his balance despite the fact that his legs were shaking and his knees were wobbling. However, despite the pathetic state the blonde saw the chunin in, he had to give him credit, Mizuki must had been extremely quick in order to had avoided the brunt of that blast at point-blank range. But, Naruto knew that Mizuki must had used the last of his energy in order to avoid certain death.

"You damn brat, this isn't over! **Kage Bushin No** **Jutsu**!" Mizuki attempted to create more clones, but nothing happened.

"I found that jutsu's weakness," Naruto said, his face was stoic. "It uses way too much chakra, and you abused it over and over again. Had you used that jutsu wisely, you could had easily beaten me. Instead the power of the jutsu blinded you its risks. Your shortsightedness became your undoing."

Naruto then reached into his back pouch and gripped his three-bladed special kunai, the replica that he had made in honor of his late father.

"It's over, Mizuki. I don't care if you were one of my instructors, or was once a proud Chunin of the village. I will do whatever it takes to protect my home, even if it means killing you!"

Naruto then charged at Mizuki, whose eyes were wide with shock. There was some fear mixed in there as well, as his body began to shake and his lower lip quivered.

"No! Please! Don't do it I beg of you!"

His words fell on deaf ears as Naruto's kunai made contact and caused blood to splatter throughout the forest.

The only thing was, his kunai didn't make contact with Mizuki's chest.

It made contact with Tsubaki's.

"I-I'm sorry, Naruto," She began to say as blood trickled down her lips. "In the end, I couldn't stop loving him." She gave him a solemn smile.

Naruto's eyes widened.

He then withdrew his kunai from her chest.

And Tsubaki's lifeless body dropped to the ground.


	6. The Defection Of Mizuki Conclusion

Naruto Namikaze: Heir Of The Yondaime

_W-Why!?_

Naruto somberly gazed down at the fallen Chunin's lifeless body. Yes, she did give him an explanation. She had said that she couldn't stop loving Mizuki, and it was her love for him that drove her to her untimely demise at the hands of the blonde shinobi. But still, it didn't make any sense.

"W-Why!?" The word was choked out of his throat. His entire body felt heavy, especially his throat. It seemingly took all of his power just to verbalize that one word, yet that word continued to haunt him during the next few fleeting moments. It all seemed too surreal to him. He knew for a fact that the lifeless body of Tsubaki was now before him. He could see her blood continue to ooze from her gaping chest wound, and now her blood was on his hands.

Literally, Naruto's hands were stained with it, as well as his kunai and hooded jacket. He dropped his special kunai so fast that you would had thought that it had been stuck with an explosive tag. No doubt that he would rather it _had _been laced with one instead of the blood of one of his comrades. It was true that she had just tried to kill him earlier, however, she was seemingly distraught over her hatred for the Kyuubi, and her love for Mizuki. The blonde thought that Mizuki's attempt on both of their lives would serve as a wake up call for her and bring her back to her senses. But it seemed that her love for him was far too strong.

The son of the Yondaime's horrified gaze moved to his hands which continued to tremble under the weight of despair that his action brought on to him. It was still too much for his brain to process, evidenced by the blank expression that now overtook him. He just wished that he was anywhere else other than there.

* * *

In the dark recesses of Naruto's mind, he found himself wandering in something of a damp sewer of sorts. The foul, rancid smell assaulted his nostrils to the point where he had to do all he could just not to gag. The gray backdrop dulled his eyes, and the shallow sewage water felt unnervingly cold underneath his sandals. After wandering around for what felt like hours, he stumbled upon a cage with a paper seal over the lock. Curious, he stepped forward to peer through the cage in order to see what was on the other side. At first it was hard to make out if anything was there at all due to the thick blackness that clotted his view. Then suddenly, an eye as red as a sapphire revealed itself from the darkness, causing Naruto to jump. Slowly the remainder of the figure began to take shape before his very eyes, and he was horrified to find that he was face to face with the very being that had caused to much harm and destruction to his village. It was unmistakeable, from the red fur that glimmered even in the blackness of the cage, the red eyes that glowed with an intense malice that made his skin crawl, to the pearly white canine teeth that contorted itself into a condescending smirk aimed to belittle the blonde boy before him.

"K-Kyuubi..." It was all Naruto could say.

"That I am," The monster confirmed it.

A nervous bead of sweat dripped down the blonde's visage. He was finally face to face with the famed beast that defiled the sanctity of the village, as well as killed both his father, the famed Yondaime, and his mother. He was afraid, and it was something that he wasn't too proud to admit. Even with metal bars sealed off by an ninjutsu inscription, the blonde was nervous because he honestly did not know what to expect.

"What's going on? Why am I here?" Naruto asked.

The Nine-Tailed Fox cackled darkly, and it's laugh boomed within the walls of the cage in which it was confined in. The sound was enough to make Naruto even more nervous, what exactly was he dealing with?

"You pathetic boy, you are on the verge of death." The voice carried with it a harsh tone which belittled the blonde container, but yet Naruto could sense that there was some truth to it. Last he remembered, he had murdered Tsubaki in cold blood. The trauma of what had occurred must have sent his mind into shock, especially since he could recall himself trembling once he had realized that the kunoichi's blood had been smeared all over his hands. There was no doubt in his mind that Mizuki would use the opportunity to finish him off once and for all.

"So you're saying that you're going to help me?" Naruto asked. He didn't hide the fact that he didn't trust the fox, and for good reason.

"Isn't it obvious? If you die, then I die," He spat out his answer. Naruto could practically feel the contempt roll off of the demonic fox's tongue. The Kyuubi didn't like being contained, and he didn't like having to share his power with the son of the man who sealed him in the first place after just had been released from his previous prison.

Before Naruto could say anymore, red chakra began to swirl around him. It clung to him like a parasite, and it began to encircle around him like a make-shift twister. He felt that the air around him became heavier and he found it harder and harder to breathe due to the amount of pressure that the chakra put on his body. He thought that he might suffocate, and it was when he was on the verge of losing consciousness did he feel an overwhelming surge of power swell within him.

* * *

Mizuki was dumbfounded. His former lover, Tsubaki, had sacrificed her life to save his own. It had happened in a flash, and it took him a few moments to collect his thoughts. But when he saw that the blonde haired brat had become traumatized by what he had done, he knew that he had to take advantage of his chance to finish him off once and for all. Tsubaki would want that he thought, she would want him to end his life and avenge all of the villagers who had been killed on that tragic day, she would want him to avenge her parent's lives especially. Isn't that what she had sacrificed herself for?

The silver-haired chunin drew his kunai with conviction. He approached the blonde genin, who was still in a state shock as his gaze never left his bloodied hands. "Rest in hell you demon spawn," Mizuki spat as he attempted to thrust his kunai downward.

To his horror, his wrist had been grabbed by Naruto's hand, who now glared at him with dark red eyes. Those weren't the eyes of a human, in fact, he was certain that he knew what those eyes _really _were.

"K-K-Kyuubi!? You are truly a demon!" Mizuki shouted with horror laced in his voice. The chakra that Naruto had emitted was primal and raw. There was no control to it, no focus, it swirled and shifted around the vicinity in a similar fashion that a tornado would. In addition, dark orange strands of chakra lashed out at the surrounding trees and grass like whips, and it devastated the surrounding landscape.

Naruto clenched his fist and attempted to pool as much chakra as he could into his knuckle. Even with his superb chakra control he found it exceptionally hard to reign in the sweltering power that now filled him. What was even more amazing was that he felt that this was less than a measurable fraction of the demon fox's power. Just how much power was at its disposal?

"Die!"

Mizuki's life ended as soon as the fist made contact with his cranium. The force of the blow was enough to dislodge his head from his neck. It was a messy decapitation as blood oozed from the hole where his head once was like a fountain and it rained down upon Naruto's body like a shower of red wine. Once the chakra had withdrawn from the blonde's body, he fainted on the forest floor, his body laying beside that of the fallen kunoichi Tsubaki.

Meanwhile, the silver-haired chunin's head rolled until it reached the foot of an ANBU Commander who wore a white trenchcoat and a cat porcelain mask. He had seen many things in his life as an ANBU operative, and he had to do things that he was not proud of. However, aside from the invasion of the Kyuubi, he had never witnessed such a sour scene with his own two eyes. Him and his two operatives were tipped off by Tsubaki, who alerted the ANBU of Mizuki's defection after an explosion had awoke the village during the dead of the night. Being the most elite ANBU tracking team, the ANBU Commander known as Zo and his two contemporaries set off with Tsubaki, but suddenly she had seemed to have gotten second thoughts and used a flash bomb to distract the three ANBU members as she disappeared from their sight. They finally managed to track her down, though, they had wished that it was on better terms. Zo bent down over Tsubaki's body and turned her over. It was obvious what had killed her, a single, deep stab wound in her chest caused her to bleed out excessively. She must have died in a lot of pain. The weapon that had done the deed was a bloodied three-bladed kunai that was next to the unconscious body of Naruto Namikaze. Was the boy truly powerful enough to brutally kill two treacherous Chunin all on his own? Something didn't quite add up, especially when it came to the circumstances of Tsubaki's death. If Naruto had killed her, then why did he drop his weapon right next to her body? And how did he manage to completely decapitate Mizuki in such a brutal manner? It seemed that he wouldn't get his answers until Naruto awoke from the Konoha Hospital, where he'd have to take him to get his injuries treated.

* * *

_Naruto's three-bladed kunai was lodged deep within Tsubaki's chest. Blood spewed from her wound and onto his hands, as well as his body. His eyes were wide at first, but then his face turned stoic as realization washed over him, and he was forced to accept what he had done._

_"N-Naruto..." Tsubaki uttered with her last breath, and her voice resonated within him._

_"N-Naruto..."_

"Naruto!"

"Naruto Namikaze, do you hear me!?"

He snapped back to reality. The blonde had been staring down at his hands the entire time, which were trembling due to the shock of the memory. Naruto couldn't shake what had happened, even here, sitting up atop a cotton soft bed at the Konoha Hospital, the events of what had occurred just the night before haunted him. He hadn't even noticed the trench coated ANBU operative until now, and when he turned to look at him he could practically see his frown through his porcelain cat mask.

_I hate to be short with him, but the kid's been staring off into space for almost an hour now. I promised the Hokage that I would extract as much information from him as I could and immediately report back to him._

"Naruto, can you tell me everything that occurred last night?" Zo asked once more.

The son of the Yondaime looked away from the ANBU Commander, who gave a sigh of defeat. He was about to call it quits and try again another day until Naruto suddenly began to speak.

"Tsubaki told me that Mizuki-sensei wanted to steal the Scroll Of Seals from the Hokage Residence. She took me to her home and it turned out to be a trap. She wanted to kill me as well as the Kyuubi inside of me since it had killed her parents, but when I noticed that there had been explosive tags planted all around the room I jumped from out of the window and took Tsubaki along with me in order to save her. It turns out that Mizuki had planted the explosive tags in order to kill both Tsubaki and myself in one fell swoop. Then Tsubaki informed me of Mizuki-sensei's plan and I went to stop him. Before I could deliver the killing blow, Tsubaki jumped in front of Mizuki-sensei and my kunai became lodged in her chest, and she died. I then fought Mizuki-sensei again and defeated him."

_I see. I did find it far-fetched that he was able to kill both Mizuki and Tsubaki, but still, being able to defeat a Chunin in one-on-one combat after just graduating from the Academy...he's truly the Yondaime's son._

"Thank you for your cooperation Narut-"

The door to the room suddenly flung open and an elderly man lead by one of the nurses on duty that morning stepped into the room. In his mouth was a smoke pipe and he wore a simple robe with the word "Hokage" etched on the back of it.

"Sandaime!?" The ANBU Commander immediately bowed, but the Third Hokage waved him off.

"No need for that. All I ask of you is to give me and Naruto-kun some time alone." It may not have sounded like an order, but Zo knew that few who have defied the Sandaime's wishes were able to tell their peers about it. The Third was a very patient man, but one thing he did not tolerate was insubordination.

"Sir, but I was told to report everything to you-"

"I already know. Do you doubt the knowledge of your Hokage?" He narrowed his eyes at the ANBU Commander, and his tone suggested that he begged for the ANBU operative to test him. Even Naruto was slightly put-off by the Third's tone, and none of his words were directed towards him.

The ANBU Commander immediately bowed his head apologetically. "Please forgive me, I shall take my leave." He then vanished from sight in a puff of white smoke.

The Sandaime then turned to face Naruto and gave him a warm smile while taking a huff from his pipe. "Now Naruto-kun, I do believe that we have much to discuss."


	7. A Challenger Approaches! Naruto vs Lee!

Naruto stared at the Sandaime and did as best he could to appear attentive. However, with images of Tsubaki's death by his own hands flashed before his very eyes, his gaze softened and made him appear troubled. Perhaps it was due to the brief moment of silence that lingered between the son of the Yondaime and the one dubbed "God Of Shinobi".

The Professor was studying the young blonde ninja, and he noted that what he had gone through traumatized him. Through the Sandaime's experiences and long tenure as a ninja, he noted that time healed all wounds, so he wouldn't pressure Naruto to seek counseling unless he felt that there was no other choice.

"You killed both Tsubaki and Mizuki," It wasn't a question.

The blonde's gaze softened even more, something that the Sandaime took note of.

"Yes Lord Sandaime," He spoke in such a soft tone that the Hokage had to process what was said. It seemed that Naruto hadn't come to grips with what he had done.

"They were two valuable shinobi," The Sandaime took a drag from his pipe. "Two valuable _Chunin_, I should say."

Naruto gripped his hospital bed sheets. He was about to be punished, he knew he was. He had just graduated from the Academy and yet he had already earned his first black mark. What a disgrace he was. Yes he wanted to find his way out of his father's shadow, but not like this. He had been reckless. Instead of informing the ANBU of everything he had learned, he acted on his own accord. What if they could have extracted even more valuable information out of them? But they would never know now, and it was all thanks to him and his brash actions. He had squandered a great opportunity for the village.

He spoke with a child's hesitance, "I shall accept any punishment you wish to pass, Lord Hokage." It was all he could do. He had to take his punishment with grace and hope that he could pick up the pieces afterwards.

The Sandaime gave an affirmative nod. "Alright, then it is settled," The Hokage took another drag of his pipe, and Naruto's body tensed. The silence was deafening. What would his punishment be? Would he receive lashings? Would he be forced back into the Academy? Would he no longer be able to carry on as a ninja? If he couldn't be a shinobi then he'd-

"From this day forward, you shall be a Chunin."

A pocket of air escaped from Naruto's lungs in a shocked gasp. He hadn't believed what he had heard. Him, a Chunin? "L-Lord Hokage, why me?" He couldn't understand what the Hokage saw in him. It wasn't like he did it all on his own either. He had help from a very unlikely source...

"For one, two traitorous Chunin have perished thanks to your efforts, so it's only right that I hand over one of the vacant slots to you, the second slot shall be filled by whoever is found worthy in the Chunin Exams," The Sandaime stated. "Furthermore, I won't lie to you, I felt your chakra last night during your ordeal. It was faint, but for a moment I could sense the Kyuubi's presence. You could imagine why I'd wish to keep a close eye on you myself rather than a Jounin instructor. This is far out of their scope."

Naruto's visage turned somber, for shame and guilt washed over him. "He, the Kyuubi I mean, he demanded to help me, to save me. He gave me power and..." A wetness in his eyes alerted him that he was close to tears. He tried to hold them back, shinobi don't cry, shinobi don't show emotion. But he couldn't help himself, he was scared. He had never been more afraid of anything in his life, and it wasn't another person that he feared, it was himself. "...And it felt good, I felt like I could had given myself over to him anytime I wanted to. I'm supposed to be the one to contain him, yet I'm afraid that I won't have the willpower to do so..."

Several moments passed as the Sandaime allowed the vulnerable blonde boy to sob in silence. It was good that Naruto was opening up to him about his situation, but it still somewhat troubled him. If Naruto were to slip even once, to give in to his emotions, or show a moment of weakness, then his father's sacrifice would be in vain. Not only that, but the power of the Kyuubi would surely overwhelm the poor boy and end his life as well.

"You won't have to worry about that," The Sandaime said. His confident tone caused Naruto's eyes to become wide with shock. Why did he have so much confidence in him? "Because, you're Naruto Namikaze, and you're already an excellent shinobi."

The Hokage smiled at him, it was a genuine smile, and it lit up the entire room. Naruto himself couldn't help but smile as well, and he wiped the tear residue from his face. He was finally acknowledged for he was, for being Naruto Namikaze, and this praise came from the Hokage himself. If the greatest shinobi in all of the land had confidence in him, then who was he to doubt himself?

* * *

Naruto was discharged from the hospital several days later. His injuries weren't very severe, he just needed some basic wound care and bandage dressings, and he was given some pain medication as well since he had lingering muscle aches. In spite of that, Naruto wanted to train to help clear his head and get his mind off of things. He found that the image that haunted him the most, the all too familiar sight of Tsubaki's blood spewing onto him, was all but forgotten while he thought of training and improving his skills. He had to train to suppress his inner demons, quite literally.

The son of the Yondaime entered the training grounds and performed a basic taijutsu kata as a warm-up. All the while his mind began to think on what it would actually mean to be a Chunin. He understood what came with the rank in theory, more pay, more responsibility, capable of leading other genin, and etc. But since he would be just starting out, he imagined that his missions would perhaps mainly consist of spot babysitting other Genin teams while their Jounin instructors were away performing other tasks. Not that it'd bother him to do so or anything, in fact he rather enjoyed the prospect of interacting with his former classmates.

"You!" Naruto heard a male shout to him from behind.

Naruto stopped his kata and turned to face the rather...unique looking boy. He wore a rather unsightly tight green spandex jumpsuit and had his hair in a bowl cut. Another rather interesting feature of his were his very thick eyebrows. Perhaps he should get those trimmed sometime? Or maybe he has tried to trim them and they would just grow back extremely fast.

"Hello? Do I know you?" Naruto asked him. It wasn't uncommon for villagers to randomly approach him. He _was _the son of the Yondaime after all. But eventually all of their faces would kind of blur together so he'd have to politely ask them who they were to help remind him. But he had to say, he certainly had no recollection of _ever _meeting the boy before him, and he'd definitely remember someone as...unique as him.

"No, I do not believe that we have met before, however, I would still like to introduce myself!" The boy exclaimed. "My name is Rock Lee and I'm a hard working shinobi! You are the son of the legendary Yondaime himself, a true genius, so I ask that you accept my challenge! I want to compare myself to a true genius such as yourself!"

Naruto perked a brow at him. "A _true _genius?" He begged for an explanation for his choice of words.

Lee nodded. "Yes, the names of Hyuuga, and even Uchiha, pale in comparison to the name of the Yondaime. And you being his son, well, it would be an honor to face you!"

Naruto suppressed the urge to groan. So despite the fact that he had stopped two treacherous Chunin before they could cause harm to the village (granted, one committed suicide and he only killed the other thanks to the Kyuubi's chakra), he was still being compared to the deeds of his father. He began to wonder what it would take for him to truly earn his own reputation separate from that of his father's. The Sandaime recognizing him was a start, but he wanted more than that. He wanted everyone to see that he was his own person, that he was Naruto Namikaze, and not just the Yondaime's son. And he would start by accepting the challenge and defeating Rock Lee here and now.

"I accept your challenge."

Rock Lee gave an excited shout and quickly fell into his combat stance, as did Naruto. The blonde studied the boy's stance and marveled at how simple it seemed. He stood tall with one arm behind his back while his right arm (obviously his dominant one) was extended ever so slightly with his palm facing his person. Another moment passed, and the boy charged directly at the blonde.

Naruto blocked a punch that was intended for his face and attempted to retaliate with a quick jab of his own. Unfortunately he missed his mark, but he noticed that his opponent's footwork appeared sloppy. He tried to take advantage by moving his front leg forward in the direction of his opponent's base leg in a trip attempt, and it was successful.

Lee began to fall towards the ground but at the last minute he braced himself with his hand and his body spun like a break dancer's would. Lee brought his leg around and attempted a kick toward Naruto's cheek from his position on the ground, who prepared to block it.

_I should be able to make it in time-UGH!_

He was slow, far too slow. The kick landed squarely on his jaw and sent him spiraling backwards onto his spine. Where had that speed come from? Only a moment ago he seemed a step slow, but out of nowhere Lee was able to easily bypass the blonde's guard and land a direct hit as if it was nothing. And what's more, his kick had hurt, a lot.

"You're probably wondering how I did that," Lee began to speak as Naruto made his way back to his feet. "Well it's simple really, you're just far too slow." The blonde narrowed his eyes at the perceived insult.

"I wasn't exaggerating when I said that I was a hard working shinobi. I will tell you this now, I am easily the fastest Genin in Konoha. But not only that, you can probably tell that my hits pack quite a punch as well. I know that you are a true genius Naruto-kun, but you're going to need more than talent to overcome the difference between us!"

Upon his declaration, he began to charge directly at Naruto, but this time, he approached him at a much quicker pace. The blonde had already came to the conclusion that Lee wanted to face him on terms that benefited him, such as close quarters combat. However, Naruto knew that he couldn't allow him to do so. He flew threw his hand seals at such a pace that Lee had a difficult time catching them at all.

"**Doton: Doryuheki!**"

Naruto slammed both of his arms on the ground and created an impressive wall of earth to block Lee off from him. Lee had to skid to a stop to halt his momentum but other than that, he was undeterred.

"I'll just go around!" He shouted. When he did just that he managed to see Naruto attempt to run away, but he quickly caught up to him with his superior speed. "I got you!" Lee landed a punch toward the blonde's back, but his fist slipped right through him.

_A Bushin?!_

The real Naruto appeared behind him with his three-bladed kunai drawn. He placed the blade of it against Lee's neck and whispered, "It's over."

"H-How?!" Lee asked.

Naruto placed his kunai back in his weapons pouch and began to explain, "I created the earth wall as well as the bushin as a diversion while I used my **Cloak Of Invisibility **to hide against the earth wall so that you wouldn't be able to spot me. Then I approached you from behind while you were distracted and it was all over."

Lee's shoulders sank, but he still maintained a smile all the same. "I see, as expected from the son of the Yondaime."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Lee, who seemed confused as to why the blonde became upset at his complimentary words. "I didn't just beat you because I was born as the Yondaime's son, I had to work hard to hone my skills just like everyone else. Even geniuses have to work hard."

The bowl cut haired boy smiled at Naruto's words of wisdom. He realized where his error was in saying that Naruto was just "naturally" strong. It undermined all of his hard work. "Forgive me Naruto-kun. I recognize your skill now, you are a special shinobi in your own right, son of the Yondaime or not."

Naruto smiled back at him. "You as well Lee."


End file.
